Roland eakestraw



(No Model.)

R. RAKESTRAW.

ROTARY HARROW,

No. 364,130. l Patented May 31,1887.Y

u. persas, mwmhagmpmr. washingm u cA UNITED STATES lATENT OFFICE.

ROLAND BAKESTRAW, OF WYOMING, ILLINOIS.

ROTARY HARROW.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,130, dated May 31,1887,

Application men J-.ny 31, issn.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROLAND RAKESTRAW of Wyoming, in the county ofStarke, State of Illinois, have invented an Improved Rotary Harrow; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

. This invention is in the line of harrows in which a centrally-impelledframe is adapted, by means of inclined teeth and their unequal actionupon the ground, to give a slow rotation about said impelling center.

My improvements relatek especially to means for overcoming the lateraltrav-el which it has been found to give to the harrow as an unavoidableaccompaniment of its rotation, to an improved form of harrowtooth, to animproved construction of harrow-frame, and other minor In the drawingsconnected with this application, Figure l is a plan view of my harrow.Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same at XX in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is avertical section at Y Y in Fig. 1. Fig. 4t is a view of my barrow-tooth.Fig. 5 is a modified form of the guide; Fig. 6, a view of under side ofguide-blade and securing mechanism; Fig. 7, a view of the hook at endsof the arcuatebars M.

My harrow-frame consists of a series of loosely -joined frames, eachformed of three metallic bars, one of which is radial, one arcuate andthe other approximately parabolic, rigidly secured together, the radialbars being adapted to connect with the center ot' the harrow, and thearcuate bars coupled together.

My arrangement for overcoming the lateral deflection of the harrowconsists, essentially, of a guiding-blade rigidly connected with theharrow-tongue and adapted by its slightlyoblique cutting engagement withthe ground to prevent the harrow from yielding to the tendency giventhereto by its rotation to move to one side, said blade being setslightly oblique instead of in the direction of advance, so that theresultant of its lateral force and that ol' the teeth in the oppositedirection shall be straight ahead.

Referring to the drawings,l the sectional frames forming the harrowconsist of the radial bars L, each connected to the center-piece D, theparabolic bars N, and the arcuate bars M,

Serial No. 209,621. (No model.)

the lbars L, N, and M being rigidly fastened together by bolts or rivetsto form a single section, and each end of the bar M being vmade into ahook, M', for permitting the rectangular link O to engage therewith, andithe sections to be coupled together;

The teeth H, I form from bar-iron of crosssection preferably threeeighths by threefourths inch, the tooth portion being made tapering, andthe body H being horizontal, and provided with the upwardly-projectingrim H2. Said body being riveted or bolted to the under side of a bar ofthe barrow, the contact of said rim and the edge of thc bar lena` blesthe single bolt employed to be entirely suliicient to hold the toothfirmly in place.

The tongue or draft-beam T is pivoted at its inner end to the shortsplit bar E, which is rigidly fastened to the king-bolt F. The latter,passing down through the center-piece D, has the guide-blade A fixed toits lower end, so that both said blade and the draft-beam are rigidlyconnected and must turn together independent of the harroW-framesrotation.

The mode of attaching the guide-blade to the king-bolt is moreparticularly as follows: Just beneath the center-piece D, and forming asupport therefor, is the horizontallyprolonged shoulder F of theking-bolt, and to the under side of said shoulder is secured theblade-holder consisting of the jaws` B bolted together with Athe guide.-blade A between them. The upper edges of said jaws are horizontallyextended into elbow-plates C, through one of which is the bolt-hole C',and the otherY t barrow, I sometimes employ the disk A',

mounted between jaws B', substantially similar to the jaws B, previouslydescribed. In some kinds of soil this rotating disk is superior to thexed blade, and in other grounds enforce the guidingblade at the centerof the harrow with a second, held at the end of a beam, I, supportingthe driver. The inner end of said beam I is pivoted to the disk J, heldby the split bar E, and the rear end thereof supports the seat I.Although I can employ the runner form of blade A at the rear end of thisbeam, I- usually prefer the disk form A', or two of them, so that theweight of -the driver, while enabling the blades to suitably guide theharrow, shall not produce too much friction between ,the guide-bladesand` the ground.

To enable the harrow and the team drag` ging the same to be turned aboutfor another journey across the field, the beam I and the draft-beam mustbe able to have suiii cient relative yangular motion. To this end `isthe said beam I pivoted to the plate J. On the othery hand, -to enablethe guide-blades of the same to suitably `control the harrow, there mustbe no angular yieldingof the beam I tothe guidt ing tendency of itsguide-blade. To overcome this,'the disk J is provided with theperipheral lug J and the beam =I is provided with the pin K, projectingthrough the beam, and adapted to engage with said lug and prevent therelative angular movement of the draft-beam and seat-beam I in -thedirection to which the latv Said Tohave the center-,piece D at asuliicient `heighttoaccommodate the guide-blade A and its mechanism,.the inner ends of the radial bars L are eachgiven an upward and lthen adownward curve, termed a goose-neck7 so that the inner :ends are higherthan the vremainder of the framesections. On theunder side of 'the innerends of said bars are the slightshoulders L', which, after said ends areinserted in the seats D in the center-piece D engage'withthe cross-'barsDl thereof, and are thereby :prevented `from being withdrawn in ahorizontal'directiom Toinsert and remove a :sectiomitzmust ybe somewhatelevated at its outer portion.

The hooks M', at the ends of the arcuate barsLM, are formed inapproximately a shep-v fherdsfcrook, so-that the rectangular linksOcanbe easily connected and disconnected there from, and thedifferentharrowsections readily detachedfrom each other, for compactnessof storage.

To aid:the inclination of 'the harrow-teeth in their workfof rotatingthe harrow, it is cusltomarylto load "the side of the frame at whichltheiteethlarefinclined toward the direction of advance. This I haveimproved by providing a box adapted to receive any required amount ofstone or metal, which box is mounted upon two rollers traveling upon theupper side of 7o the arcuate bars M, and is kept in position by the barsQ Q', connecting it to the draft-beam. Said box I? may or may not beprovided with a cover Afor retaining therein the weights.

Still, though I show it without a cover, I usually prefer the same. Y

The rollers R are connected to the box P by bearings projectingtherefrom both fore and aft, thereby bringing one roller in front of thebox and the other behind. This enables the box to traverse more easilythe top of the bars M, and to pass from section to section with one-halfthe jar that would result were there vbut one supporting-roller.

' Although I have described the guide-blade A as being slightly obliquerelative to thedrection of .the harrows travel, I do not restrict myselfto said position, as in some kinds ofsol it is better to adjust the saidblade so that it shall be parallel to the direction of advance.

What I claim as `my invention, and for which I desire Letters Patent, isas follows, to wit:

l. In a revolving harrow, the combination, with the harrow and Vthedraft-beam .pivoted thereto, of the guideblade rigidly connected to saiddraft-'beam and adapted'to engage with the ground over which the same isbeing dragged, and vto overcome the sidezdraft ofthe harrow,substantially as described.

42. In a revolving harrow, the combination,

Iwith the harrow and the draft-beam, ofthe kingbolt rigidly fastened toand projecting from said .beam through the center of the harrow, and theguide-blade rigidly ixed to the lower end of said king-bolt,substantially as described.

3. In a revolving harrow, the combination, with the harrow and thedraft-beam kpivoted thereto, of a guide-bladerigidly but adj ustablyconnected with the draft-beam and adapted to engage the ground overwhich the harrow' passes, and means for varyinglthe angle of theguide-blade with reference to thedraftlbeam.

4. In a revolving harrow, the combination, with the harrow and thedraft-beam, of the king-'bolt connectedtherewith,asset forth, and havingthe shoulder F, Atheclamping-jaws B,

adjustably secured to said shoulder by the bolt and curved slot, andtheguide-blade A,

held by saidjaws, for :thepurpose set forth.

5. In a rotary harro.wthe combination,with

thedraft-beam and a revolvingharrowpivoted thereto, -of twoguide-blades, one .'beneath'the ICO guide-blade xed to the rear end ofsaid beam,

and a lock for securing said beam from angular movement relative to thedraft-beam of the barrow, substantially as' described.

7. rIhe combination, with the harroW and its draft-beam, of theguide-blade connected to the center of the harrow and rigidly held bysaid draft-beam, the seat-beam I, the disk J, secured to the draft-beam,and having lug J',

said beam being pivoted to said disk, the pin K, engaging With saidlug,and the lever K', for removing` the pin, for the purpose specified.

8. The barrow-frame consisting of the sections each formed of the radialbar L, arcuate bar M, and parabolic bar N, firmly secured together, saidradial bars being connected together, and the arcuate bars being looselycoupled to each other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination, with the center piecel andthe draft-beam connectedthereto, of the harroW-sections formed ofthe radial bars connected tosaid center-piece, the arcuatebars loosely coupled together, and theparabolic bars iirmly secured to the said radial and arcuate bars, saidbarrow-sections being furnished with inclined teeth, and said draft-beampivoted to the center-piece, for the purpose Set forth.

l0. `.The combination, with the harrow-frame consisting ofthesectionshaving-the radial bars Y L, theinner ends of said bars beingmade gooseneck shaped, of the center-piece D, receiving said inner endsof the radial bars, the split bar E, and the draft-beam pivoted thereto,the king-bolt F, uniting said split bar and centerpiece, and theguide-blade A, rigidly connected with the lower end of said king-bolt,for the purpose set forthfl 1l. The combination, v with thecentrallyunited radial bars L, the parabolic bars N, and the arcuatebars M, having hooks M', of the rectangular links O, for couplingsaidbars M together, as set forth. f

In testimony that I claim-the foregoing invention I have hereunto set myhand and seal this 21st day of July, in the year 1886.

' ROLAND RAKESTRAW. [L s.]

Witnesses:

LEWIS A. CASTLE, A. G. HAMMOND.

